O-Ren Ishii
| last= }} O-Ren Ishii was a member of the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad, known by her code-name Cottonmouth. She was born on an American military base in Tokyo, Japan. She is a half Chinese-Japanese American who was the daughter of a military man and a housewife. O-Ren eventually became the leader of a crime organization in Tokyo, where she led the Crazy 88 and Gogo Yubari. After a duel in the snow, O-Ren was murdered by Beatrix. Biography Childhood Not much is known about her childhood and it's presumed that she lived a happy life. Her father was a Sergeant Major in the United States Army while her mother was an ordinary housewife. However, one day, everything changed when her home was intruded by assassins led by the ruthless crime boss, Matsumoto. While hiding under the bed for protection, O-Ren who was nine years old at the time witnessed her father being killed first when an unknown assassin (Bill confirmed) killed her father by stabbing him in the chest after her father had dispatched down two of the boss's men. Seconds later, Matsumoto dragged O-Ren's mother and lay her on the bed. At first, it was thought that he was going to rape her but when Riki handed him the sword, Matsumoto personally executed Mrs. Ishii by impaling her in the chest with the same sword that had been used to execute her husband as the distraught housewife began screaming, realizing that she was about to be killed. The sword went through Mrs. Ishii's chest, killing her instantly with the bottom half having not been drenched in any blood striking the floor underneath and missing young O-Ren's right ear by mere inches and as she began grieving for her dead mother, O-Ren was splashed with some of the blood that had begun leaking underneath the bed. The mob then fled the home afterwards but Riki used a gun to destroy a bottle of alcohol and a single well-timed kick sent Matsumoto's abandoned cigar flying into the alcohol, creating a huge fire that engulfed the building in seconds. This was done presumably to cover up the gang's involvement in the deaths. Thankfully, despite her emotional state, O-Ren noticed the blaze and managed to escape but as a result of witnessing the killings at such a young age, was left psychologically and emotionally damaged for life. With her childhood and life having been ripped away from her by the gang, she became obsessed with exacting revenge against Matsumoto and his men, swearing to avenge her parents by any means necessary. Revenge After spending two years training in the art of handling and firearms, O-Ren, now aged eleven and knowing that Matsumoto was a pedophile lured him into a compromising position by disguising herself as an innocent schoolgirl. She then used a sword to dig deep into Matsumoto's gut, applying such intense pressure that his teeth cracked while she asked him if he remembered her before disemboweling him. The sheer force of the bleeding killed Matsumoto instantly and the entire room was nearly drenched in his blood with O-Ren being covered in it. Soon after killing the boss, O-Ren used Matsumoto's corpse as a shield and hid under the bed. Two of his henchmen attempted to shoot her but she evaded them with her first shots blowing off the henchmen's knees before her second and final shots decapitated both of them instantly. Nine years later, at the age of twenty, O-Ren had become one of the top female assassins in the world and was seen assassinating a Latin American ambassador with just a single shot from her position of a rooftop. Massacre at Two Pines Five years later and aged twenty-five, O-Ren was a member of the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad and took part in the vicious attack against the bride at her wedding rehearsal, helping to kill 9 (though it was really only 8, considering B.B. survived) innocent people and being partly responsible for putting the Bride into a coma. Leadership in Tokyo About a year after the Massacre, Bill fully supported O-Ren "financially and philosophically" in her power struggle with the other Yakuza clans over who would rule vice in the city of Tokyo. She eventually becomes, what the bride calls "Queen of Tokyo's underworld". Duel with Beatrix Kiddo O-Ren was first on the Bride's death list, being easiest to find due to her position in the crime world. The bride begins her battle against O-Ren by killing and/or deforming her many subordinates, firstly Sofie Fatale (O-Ren's best friend, lawyer and Lieutenant) who was present at the massacre, Gogo Yubari, (a sadistic 17 year old dressed as a school girl) and then many members of the Crazy 88 (O-Ren's personal army). The Bride is forced to fight off the entire gang, killing or wounding all, except one (a young member who hardly had any sword fighting skill at all, the Bride simply spanks him with her sword and sends him away), before dueling with O-Ren in the snow. O-Ren Ishii taunted the Bride, saying that while a sword doesn't get tired, the Bride must be. She refused to believe that the Bride's sword was a Hanzō sword. The two traded comments and blows, and both ended up being injured once by each others' attacks. By the duel's end, O-Ren is killed, scalped by the Bride's Hanzō sword, her last words confirming the sword is a Hanzō sword, she falls to her knees and then to the snow covered ground defeated before dying seconds later. Skill *'Swordsmanship: '''O-Ren was a master swordsman, a skill developed over many years of practice. She was easily able to keep the Bride on her toes (who was armed with a Hanzo sword) and to injure her heavily on the back. Her weapon of choice was a curved katana that could be wielded either with one or two hands. Since her sword had no guard, it is implied that she was confident that nobody could manage to wound her hands. During the first part of her confrontation with the Bride, she fought holding the sword in her right and and the scabbard in the left, thus splitting offense and defense. However, after the scabbard got easily cut off, she wielded the katana with two hands, improving her skills. The fact that she was able to stand toe-to-toe with a fellow assassin armed with a blade forged by Hattori Hanzo, the sharpness of which was stated by many characters to be past human capabilities, is proof of her immense skills. *'Expert Marksman: O-Ren was a highly capable sharpshooter, killing at least one target via sniping from a long distance. She also was able to quickly kill two thugs with a handgun. *'Criminal Genius: '''While probably not on par with Bill, O-Ren was able to become the head of the Yakuzas and lead them successfully. *'Hand-to-Hand Combat: 'The only time she showcased some barehanded fighting skills was during the beating of Beatrix: since she hit her with a flying kick at the face, however, she might have been fairly proficient at it. *'Miscellanous skills: She has showed very quick reflexes when crossing blades with Beatrix, and noteworthy speed. Her appearance betrays her actual strength: she was able to effortlessly behead a man with one cut, and while holding her sword with just one hand. Furthermore, she is higly perceptive, as she was able to notice that somebody was spying her from the other side of a shōji. On that occasion she displayed excellent skills in knife throwing. Trivia *Lucy Liu won "best villain" at the 2004 MTV Movie Awards for her performance as O-Ren. *O-Ren's character, manner of dress, and origin story are partially inspired by the manga/film Lady Snowblood. Her final fight in a snow-covered garden is a direct reference to Lady Snowblood. * O-Ren Ishii's death scene is a homage to the Manga, "Ichi the Killer". In it, Ichi kills a main villain by kicking him in the head with a foot blade when the villain tries to pick up a knife he dropped. At first the villain thinks he is okay, but when he checks his head he finds that the top of his skull is missing and his brain is exposed. He then falls dead. * During the video game, "Saint's Row 2", in the Ronin mission, "The Kanto Connection", the player must travel to the sushi house "Kanto" and kill one of the game's villian "Jyunichi". After the player enters into the sushi house, Jyunichi would bow and say, "Die with honor". Listen carefully to the background as sometimes, one of the bodyguards would quip, "We will protect this boss better than we did O-Ren!" This is a clear and obvious reference to O-Ren Ishii and the movie. * It's rumored that in the early stages of filming, O-Ren was supposed to be decapitated at the end of her battle with the Bride, but it was scrapped because had she been decapitated, she would have never known that the Bride's sword really was a Hanzō sword. Category:Characters Category:Deadly Viper Assassination Squad Category:Deceased characters